


Accidental Kidnappings and Semi-Purposeful Hostage Situations

by AChairWithAPandaOnIt



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Accidental kidnapping, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s01e13 The Blue Spirit, Gen, Hostage Situations, Kidnapping, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), aang just wants to be friends, aang really didn't mean to kidnap zuko, by a day, momo and zuko brotp when zuko gets over his distrust, post it at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28524624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AChairWithAPandaOnIt/pseuds/AChairWithAPandaOnIt
Summary: Aang really hadn't meant to kidnap Zuko. Really, he hadn't! And now Sokka's sending hostage letters to the Firelord every week and they're getting woken up every night because Zuko's very good at escaping and Katara keeps suggesting that they set Zuko off into the wild because they can't afford to buy all the rope that Zuko keeps chewing through.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Appa & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Momo & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 97
Kudos: 373





	1. Sorry About the Fire Flakes

The hallway is long, dark, and very metal. It feels closed-off and cramped in a way that Aang doesn't like - in a way that he knows wouldn’t suit his airbending well. With every corner that he turns, Aang expects to run right into Zuko. Or maybe an armoured Fire Nation soldier. But mostly Zuko, seeing as it’s Zuko’s ship he’s sneaking around right now.

Sneaking around doesn’t sound very good. It sounds sneaky and, well,  _ bad _ .

But this is a Fire Nation ship and, more than that - it’s  _ Zuko’s _ ship. And maybe Aang is sneaking around Zuko’s ship with the intention of finding Zuko, but he doesn’t really want to bump into him in these tiny metal hallways.

Maybe it had been a stupid idea to sneak aboard Zuko’s ship. But the ship’s docked and Aang’s confused, and they’re leaving the area in the morning, so he really needs to do this now. ‘Do this’ as in, talk to Zuko.

‘Do this’ as in try to understand Zuko, the most complicated and strange person that Aang has ever met. You can’t really get more complicated than sneaking around a Fire Nation stronghold in a mask, with swords, rescuing the Avatar - who you are trying to capture - while also being a Fire Nation prince.

Zuko’s ship is probably the most Zuko-guaranteed place. 

Or maybe it isn’t? Because Aang keeps finding Zuko in places he doesn’t expect him to be, so it’d be just his luck if the most Zuko-guaranteed place was actually the least Zuko-guaranteed place. 

Maybe Zuko’s out again tonight at another Fire Nation stronghold, sneaking around in a mask doing Zuko-things, whatever Zuko-things are. Zuko-things probably involve a lot of shouting and fire.

Or maybe they don’t now? Because Zuko had been pretty silent when he’d rescued Aang from Pohuai Stronghold just a day ago.

Aang doesn’t actually know a lot about Zuko so maybe he’s not an expert of Zuko-things. Have Zuko-things always secretly involved sneaking around in a mask, or is this a new Zuko-thing?

Maybe Aang should stop thinking about Zuko-things.

Up ahead, through the dimly lit corridor, he can hear snoring. Maybe it’s Zuko? That arrow had hit him pretty hard, so Aang wouldn’t be surprised if he was sleeping. It’s also night, and while he’s not sure that _ \- does Zuko even sleep? _ Maybe he doesn’t need to sleep.

Aang pauses, scrunching his face in thought.  _ No _ . Even Zuko needs to sleep. 

Aang starts walking again.

He gets to the door the snoring is coming from and opens it, realising too late that he’d opened this exact door last time he was on Zuko’s ship and that it had been the old man’s room. Aang has no idea who the old man is - has only seen him a couple of times - but he’s starting to sit up in the bed, yawning.

The old man looks over at him mid-yawn and blinks. 

“Hi!” Aang says - loudly, nervously - before he can even think about why this might be a bad idea. “Do you know where Zuko is?” 

The old man takes a moment to process that Aang - the  _ Avatar _ \- is standing in the doorway. 

The moment is over. He’s processed it.

“You wish to see Prince Zuko?” the old man asks calmly, climbing out of bed.

“Yep!” Aang squeaks. He takes a quick step back as the man approaches. And then several more as the man keeps approaching. “ _ Zuko! _ I’m really sorry for waking you up! Please don’t kill me!”

The old man laughs. Aang doesn’t think it’s a murderous laugh, but then, he doesn’t really know anything about murder. “I’m not going to kill you, young Avatar.” 

That’s good. Aang relaxes somewhat. “Oh!” he exclaims. “Phew. I don’t want to get murdered today.”

“No,” the old man agrees, coming to a stop by Aang. “I can’t imagine that would be too pleasant.”

He isn’t a scary old man. He’s old, barely taller than Aang, and has a calming, grandfatherly smile.

Aang still backs up into the hallway just a little. Two or three steps. He  _ really _ doesn’t want to get captured by the Fire Nation two days in a row.

“Prince Zuko’s room is down the hall,” the old man says, pointing Aang in the direction. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find - this isn’t a very big ship.”

Aang grimaces. That doesn’t really help a lot.

“Can’t you help me find it?” he asks.

The man smiles. “Every turtle duckling must strike out on its own someday.”

Aang frowns. “What does that-” the door closes, the old man having obviously decided their conversation over. “-mean?” Aang blinks. He raises his hand, considers knocking at the door, and then decides that maybe he’s better off searching on his own.

The next door he opens leads to a bathroom. And the one after that is the storage room Zuko had put his staff in last time. After that, he comes to a room that isn’t empty.

There are three adults in there, wearing Fire Nation red pyjamas. They’re playing Pai Sho. The Pai Sho board is Fire Nation red. Does the Fire Nation just make everything in that colour? 

Oh.

They’re looking at him.

“Hello. Avatar here,” Aang says, giving them a wave. He smiles widely at them, hopefully showing that he  _ is _ up to good and not just walking around their ship for no reason. “Have you seen Zuko?”

The three of them slowly look away from Aang and towards each other.

He catches whispers of their hushed conversation.

“What do we do? Should we tell the Prince?”

“The Prince is in a  _ mood _ today.”

“He’s looking for the Prince anyway. Just let him find him. You’re not getting out of this game until I win.”

“Look, if the Prince is yelling at anyone today, it’s not gonna be me. Just saying.”

“It’s  _ two in the morning _ . We shouldn’t have to deal with Avatar business at two in the morning, while we’re  _ docked _ . We shouldn’t have to deal with  _ Prince Zuko _ at two in the morning!”

Aang stands there waiting. He bites at his lip, rocks back on his heels.

“Okay, okay. Let’s just- let’s just clear up the game. We can send the Avatar on his way and go to bed and be extra slow when the Prince starts screaming. Say we were asleep.”

Aang looks around the room. So much Fire Nation red.

“I like that idea.”

“Yeah, seconded.”

Is that bedsheet Fire Nation red, or is it more of an umber? Aang leans into the room a little bit, squinting his eyes in the dim light to get a better look. He’s not sure. It looks kind of scarlet. But maybe there’s just so much Fire Nation red that it’s all starting to look diff-

A throat clears.

Aang jumps. He looks at the three adults, who are also looking at him. “Yes?” he asks.

“Prince Zuko’s room is two doors down,” says a short-haired woman as she sweeps the Pai Sho pieces into a box. “If you leave for him before we can climb into bed and pretend we never saw your face this night, I’ll kill you.”

The other two nod seriously.

“Okay!” Aang says, voice squeaky. He backs up into the hallway. “I’ll stay right here-”

“Until we’re in bed?” the woman suggests, eyebrow raised, eyes trained dangerously on Aang. She sets the box down on the small table that they’re all sat around with a heavy thump. 

“Until you’re in bed.” Aang confirms. He  _ really _ doesn’t want to die today.

So the three of them set about putting their game of Pai Sho away, and Aang stands there, bouncing on the balls of his feet, waiting.

“Until we’re in bed,” the woman reminds him as she passes with the other two, Pai Sho box held securely under one arm.

“That’s right!” Aang says cheerily.

“Good Avatar,” the woman says. She clamps a hand down on top of his head. He thinks it’s meant to be a head pat but it’s actually kind of painful and sort of terrifying. He’s very glad when their footsteps fade away.

“Okay,” he says to himself. “Time to find Zuko. I can do it. Two doors down.”

But which way?

He goes the wrong way. The next door he opens is to a small kitchen. Good on Zuko to have a kitchen.  _ Aang _ doesn’t have a kitchen. But then, he guesses Zuko doesn’t have an Appa, and an Appa is better than a kitchen.

Aang is about to close the door when he catches sight of something on the counter. A bowl. 

He steps into the room and looks into the bowl. It’s filled with fire flakes, which Aang remembers trying one day with Kuzon. They’re very tasty, but they also burn mouths, which isn’t so good.

_ But! _ Tasty!

Maybe Zuko likes fire flakes. Maybe he  _ really _ likes fire flakes. Maybe he won’t set Aang on fire if Aang gives him fire flakes.

Aang takes the bowl.

He doubles back the way he came, bowl cradled in his arms. He goes a couple of doors too far, gets whisper-shouted at by the scary lady from earlier when he enters the room she and the rest of the crew sleeps in, and then finally opens the right door.

It’s Zuko’s room. He found it!

Aang hurries inside, easing the door shut with his foot. He spills a couple of fire flakes on the floor and whispers a quick ‘sorry’ to Zuko’s sleeping form, huddled underneath the covers of his bed. Zuko, seeing as he’s asleep, doesn’t respond.

His room doesn’t really look like a prince’s room. There’s a few Fire Nation -  _ Fire Nation red _ , Aang’s brain reminds him - banners hanging on the walls, and an empty sword-holding thing (Aang doesn’t know what it’s called) between them, but there really isn’t all that much else in there apart from the bed and a large chest.

Aang steps forward and immediately trips over Zuko’s swords - so that’s where they are! Honestly, doesn’t Zuko know not to leave things on the floor where anyone can trip over them! 

He just about manages to not spill the whole bowl of fire flakes.

Luckily, Zuko hasn’t woken up. Or maybe unluckily? Because that means Aang has to wake him up  _ purposefully _ . And then he’ll get shouted at. And Aang doesn’t like getting shouted at.

But he was going to get shouted at anyway, he supposes, and he’s sure that he can get Zuko to stop shouting eventually. It isn’t like Zuko’s  _ always _ shouting. He hadn’t been shouting at Pohuai Stronghold.

Aang tiptoes further into the room, avoiding the swords this time. He sets the bowl of fire flakes on Zuko’s side table and peers down at the sleeping prince. 

He’s lying on his side, facing Aang, the scarred side of his face pressed into his pillow. He actually looks really young like this, which reminds Aang that yes, Zuko is scary and likes shouting, but he’s also just a teenager who’s scary and likes shouting. And teenagers aren’t really  _ that  _ scary.

But  _ Zuko _ is kind of scary anyway. He just isn’t scary when he’s sleeping.

How does Aang go about this?

He worries at his lip. And then he grabs a handful of fire flakes from the bowl. 

He remembers how much they burn just in time and puts the handful back, accidentally spilling a few over Zuko’s face. Zuko’s nose scrunches and he burrows further into the pillow.

Aang hurries to brush the fire flakes off of Zuko’s face, which just makes Zuko’s face scrunch up even more and also covers Zuko’s face with more of the red powder, because Aang’s hands are covered in it. Aang cringes.

As Aang pulls back, having decided that it might be best to leave Zuko’s face be, Zuko’s arm shoots out from the burrow of blankets and grabs a hold of his wrist.

Aang freezes, watching Zuko with wide eyes. 

“Go ‘way, Uncle,” is all Zuko says before he lets go of Aang’s wrist and turns over, grabbing at the pillows and shoving his face into them.

Aang lets out a breath of air. He frowns.

He really needs to wake Zuko up if he’s going to talk to him.

“Hey! Hey, Zuko!” Aang calls. Zuko just groans and kicks at him. Which fails, because he’s under a blanket and his legs are tangled in it and he isn’t even kicking in the right direction. Aang crawls onto the bed and pokes at his shoulder. “Come on, Zuko. Could you please wake up? I really want to talk to you.”

Apparently shoulder-poking is the right way to go, because the longer Aang does it, the more tense Zuko becomes. After a few more pokes, Zuko lurches up, blankets pooling about him. There’s an obvious bruise right in the middle of his forehead where the arrow had hit him.

He grabs Aang’s hand mid-poke and squeezes hard, saying in a furious voice, “Stop. That.”

“Owwww,” Aang complains, trying to wriggle his hand free. “That really hurts!”

Zuko pauses. He blinks. His good eye trails over Aang’s form, steadily growing wider and wider. “Avatar?” he asks, looking incredibly confused. Aang’s hand slips from his startled, loosened grip. And then, “ _ AVATAR?! _ ”

Zuko snatches Aang’s hand up again.

“Hey!” Aang grins. “Could you maybe let go of my hand? You’ve got a very good grip.” He wiggles his fingers a little, to show Zuko just how much he would like his hand to be free.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko barks. He doesn’t let go of Aang’s hand.

It’s a fair question anyway. Aang would definitely be surprised if Zuko turned up in his bedroom and sprinkled fire flakes all over him. But then, Aang doesn’t have a bedroom, and Zuko doesn’t know there’s fire flakes in his hair at the moment. And it’s not like Aang did it on purpose.

“Are you sure you don’t want to be friends?” Aang asks. Zuko opens his mouth, probably to say something angry (or maybe to set fire to something. Can Zuko breathe fire?), but Aang continues on. “It’s only, we made a good team yesterday, and I like you even if you’re angry and like to shout and set fire to things. And I really need a firebending teacher anyway, and you’re a really good firebender-”

“I’m not,” Zuko corrects, wrongly. Then he splutters, fingers tightening around Aang’s hand. “And I wouldn’t teach you if I was! You’re the _ Avatar! _ ”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Aang says. He pries at Zuko’s fingers with his free hand but, wow, that really  _ is _ a strong grip.

“It  _ is  _ a bad thing,” Zuko hisses.

“If you say so,” Aang says. He pouts and puts on his best sad eyes - the ones that work on Katara all the time. “Pleaaase can you let go. You’re hurting my hand.”

For a second Zuko looks conflicted, and then he scowls. 

“If I let go, you’re just going to get away again, and then I’ll have to capture you.  _ Again _ ,” he says, lips curling into a snarl. “I’m not letting go,  _ Avatar _ .”

Aang frowns. “My name’s Aang,” he says.

Zuko blinks. “You- huh?” 

“No,” Aang says helpfully. Zuko’s grip has loosened enough in his confusion that Aang manages to get his hand free with a little bit of extra wriggling. “It’s Aang!”

Zuko blinks one more time. He flounders, trying to figure out how to respond to this. His face grows red and he shouts, “I knew that!” in a high-pitched voice that suggests differently.

It’s Aang’s turn to blink. “Wow,” he says. “You’re not a very good liar, are you, Zuko?”

Zuko’s face grows even redder.

“Wh-what?  _ I can lie! _ ” 

Aang doesn’t really believe that. “That’s nice, Zuko,” he says, attention already being grabbed by Zuko’s room. The chest in particular. Because there isn’t much in Zuko’s room, but there is a chest. A closed chest. A closed chest that could have anything in it. “Hey, what’s in there?” he asks, pointing at the chest.

“Huh?” Zuko says. “That’s just-  _ hey! _ Get back here, Avatar!”

Aang has the chest open before Zuko’s even managed to scramble from his bed. There’s clothes, more clothes, oh!

“This is the mask from yesterday!” Aang cheers, holding the mask up to admire it.

“Put that back!” Zuko yelps. He hurries across the room and grabs the mask out of Aang’s hands, kneeling down next to him before shoving it back inside the chest.

“It’s really nice,” Aang says. Zuko slaps his hands away when he goes to pick the mask back up. “Did you paint it yourself?”

“It’s  _ incriminating! _ ” Zuko snaps. 

“That doesn’t mean it’s not nice,” Aang tells him, grinning. “There are lots of things that are incriminating and nice at the same time. Like...uhhh…” Aang pauses, thinking. “Me!” he says. “Or at least, that’s what the Fire Nation seems to think.”

“That’s because you  _ are _ incriminating,” Zuko says bitingly. He slams the lid of the chest down. 

“Uh huh,” Aang says. He purses his lips. “Hey, Zuko, can I ask you something?”

“ _ What? _ ” Zuko says. He’s very good at making everything he says sound angry.

“Why did you save me?”

Zuko blinks. A look of horror dawns on his face. “So I could capture you myself!” he shouts. “Which I should be doing  _ right now! _ ”

Oh.

Whoops.

Aang leaps up into the air, landing several feet outside of Zuko’s Avatar-grabbing range. Zuko looks  _ very _ annoyed at this.

“Does it really matter who captures me?” Aang asks. “I mean, whoever does it I’m still getting captured.”

“Of course it matters!” Zuko shouts, jumping to his feet. He’s practically snarling in his anger. “ _ I _ need to be the one to capture you -  _ no one else! _ ” he starts across the room, Aang taking just as many steps back as he takes forwards. 

“What?” Aang asks. He’s starting to get a little panicked, because Zuko is actually, properly angry now. “Just you? That doesn’t sound fair.” Not that any of it is fair. Aang doesn’t think he deserves to be captured by the Fire Nation.

Aang steps around the swords that are still lying discarded on the floor.

“It’s plenty fair!” Zuko snarls, striking a hand out to emphasize his point. Aang flinches at the burst of fire that springs from it. “It’s not  _ Zhao’s _ mission!  _ Zhao _ can go back to the Fire Nation anytime!  _ Zhao  _ has an entire fleet,  _ and _ he’s a creep, and he’s only trying to capture you because he hates m-”

Zuko trips over his swords. He bangs his head on the floor. 

He does not get back up.

Aang watches his unmoving body with wide eyes.

A second goes by, and then another.

“Zuko?” Aang calls out hesitantly. “Zuko? Are you okay?” No answer. Aang steps forward. “Zuko?”

Zuko doesn’t even twitch.

Aang swallows. “Alrighttt,” he says. “I don’t think you’re okay. I’m- I’m going to come over there.” Zuko, of course, doesn’t respond.

Aang crouches down next to him and pokes at him. He bites at his lip and then feels at Zuko’s neck. Surely he hasn’t managed to kill himself by tripping over swords.

There’s a pulse. Aang lets out a breath of air.

“Oh, phew,” he chuckles, patting at Zuko’s head. “You’re okay.”

Then, there comes a knock at the door. Aang freezes, hand still resting on Zuko’s head.

“Prince Zuko, are you alright?” It’s the old man from earlier. “It’s not like you to grow quiet so suddenly.”

In Aang’s defence, he panics.


	2. Prince Bitey Of The Biting Nation

“Aang, we need to put him back,” Katara says.

“I know, but,” Aang bites at his lip. He casts a guilty gaze towards Zuko, who’s curled up asleep against Appa’s paw. Aang had thought that he might be more comfortable there, and Appa really doesn’t seem to mind it even if Zuko’s shot fire at them plenty of times. “What if they get mad?”

He really doesn’t think Zuko’s crew will be happy with him. Or maybe they will? Because they hadn’t wanted to hear Zuko screaming at 2am, and if Aang has Zuko then there’s no Zuko screaming at 2am. Well, Zuko might still scream at 2am, but it won’t be aboard his ship.

Come to think of it, Aang’s not really sure that he wants to deal with Zuko screaming at 2am either.

“They won’t get mad,” Katara says, resting a hand on his shoulder, eyes softening. “It was an honest mistake.”

Aang can almost believe her, but-

“ _ Won’t get mad? _ ” Sokka repeats as if it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “Katara, it’s the  _ Fire Nation _ , and Aang kidnapped their  _ prince _ .”

“Accidentally!” Aang reminds him.

Momo is sniffing at Zuko now. He lets out a small chittering noise as he clambers around the prince, bringing his face close to Zuko’s. 

“Accidentally or not, we can totally use this,” Sokka says.

“Oh  _ really? _ ” Katara asks, eyebrows raised. She doesn’t seem happy.

Momo climbs atop Zuko’s body, tail twitching happily. Aang watches, unsure if he should do something. Momo pats clumsily at Zuko’s head.

“Two words. Hostage. Situation.”

“Uh huh.”

Momo pulls his fingers from Zuko’s face and stares at them. He sniffs. Aang tilts his head.

“Think about it! He’s the  _ prince _ of the  _ Fire Nation _ . We can just send his dad a letter like, ‘hey, we have your son!’ and then, bam! End of the war!”

The next few seconds happen very quickly. 

Momo licks his fingers. Momo does not like the taste of his fingers. Momo shrieks unhappily.

Zuko jolts up, panicked and confused, as most people are when woken up by a screaming lemur. They all fall silent and Momo tumbles down into Zuko’s lap, Zuko staring at him with impossibly wide eyes. 

Well,  _ eye _ , because his left one is fixed in a permanent squint.

Oh, Aang realises, between Zuko’s startled utterance of, “Uhh... _ good _ monkey-cat?”, Sokka’s sudden bout of laughter, and Momo’s continued shrieking. The powder from the fireflakes. 

Tasty, but not good for mouths. Especially the mouths of curious flying lemurs who like to make loud noises whenever they’re even vaguely unhappy.

Momo screeches again and takes flight from Zuko’s lap. He lands on Appa’s head and sits there, alternating between licking at his hand, spitting out fireflake powder, and glaring at Zuko. Appa lets out a comforting bellow.

The bellow does not comfort Zuko. He freezes, shoulders hiked to his ears, gaping up at the big sky bison as if he’s never seen it before. 

Aang snorts, and he catches Katara smothering her own giggle. Sokka’s bent half over, red in the face and wheezing.

Zuko’s confusion at...well,  _ everything _ , ebates quickly. He twists around, fingers fisting in the scratchy white Appa-fur behind him.

“Avatar,” he spits. 

“You’re awake!” Aang exclaims. He smiles as widely as he can, because maybe if he does then Zuko won’t notice just how nervous he is. Next to him, Sokka and Katara both stand up a little straighter, sobering from their previous humour. 

Zuko’s eyes narrow as he takes them all in. “Why have you taken me here?” he asks, voice dripping dangerously.

Aang fidgets, avoiding eye contact. “Uhm, well, it was-”

“You’re our new hostage,” Sokka proclaims proudly.

Aang turns to Sokka, eyes wide. “That’s not-” 

“ _ Sokka, _ ” Katara hisses. “We are  _ not _ keeping Zuko.”

“No, you’re not,” Zuko says darkly, standing. “Because I’m going to escape.  _ And _ I’m going to take the Avatar with me.”

He doesn’t cut an imposing figure, bare foot, dressed in his bed clothes, a  _ very  _ dark bruise on his forehead. His whole forehead. Because he banged it earlier on his ship. It’s actually impressive that he’s standing up. He looks like he could fall over any time.

“Ha! There’s no way you’ll get far!” Sokka says, likely having noticed Zuko’s unsteadiness.

“And there’s no way you’re taking Aang,” Katara says. She takes a step forward, hand hovering over her flask of water in threat.

“I’m not even tied up!” Zuko yells, throwing his hands out. He almost falls over.

Sokka falters. “O-oh,” he says. “Yeah- actually, that’s a good point. Um…”

“Maybe you should sit down,” Aang suggests to Zuko.

“What?” Zuko spits. “So you can tie me up?”

“No!” Aang exclaims. He takes a step closer, hands help up placatingly. “You just look like you’re abou-”

“Yes,” Sokka says. “We are going to tie you up. Momo, get the rope!”

Aang groans. Momo makes a confused noise.

“We don’t  _ have _ rope,” Katara says. “And we’re still not taking Zuko hostage.”

“Are too!”

“You’re not!” Zuko snaps. A few sparks make their way out of his mouth, confirming for Aang that yes, he can breathe fire, and yes, it’s cool. “You just got lucky capturing me, that was all. My guard was down. But it’s not down any longer! I’m going to capture the Avatar, and then I’m going to make it back to my ship! I’m going to get my honour back! I-”

Appa lets out a sigh and rolls over, trapping the steaming (literally!) prince between his front paws.

“Let go! Get off me!” Zuko shouts. He grabs at Appa’s fur and kicks out, but he’s no match for a ten foot sky bison in the mood for cuddles. 

Momo chitters, crouched victoriously upon Appa’s head, staring down at the struggling prince as if he is the one that’s trapped him.

They keep Zuko.

* * *

“I can’t believe he bit me!” Sokka complains for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, still nursing his hand as if it’s been chewed at by a sabertooth moose lion. To be fair, Aang thinks being bitten by Zuko might not be all that different.

“ _ You’re _ the one that wanted to take him hostage,” Katara sighs, stirring at the pot of jook and vegetables she’s been making over their fire. 

It really isn’t something she’s used to making - being more of an Earth Kingdom meal - but they’ve run out of most of the supplies they’d packed at the South pole by now and rice is cheap.

“ _ Yeah _ ,” Sokka says, rubbing at his hand. “But I didn’t know I was going to get  _ bitten! _ ” He turns to Zuko with a glare and says, “You know, biting people  _ isn’t _ normal!”

Zuko ignores him. He’s been ignoring them all since he was tied up. He’s just sitting there, arms tied together behind him, locked in an intense staring competition with Momo.

Momo doesn’t seem to have forgiven him for the taste of the fireflake powder, and Zuko just seems untrusting of Momo in general.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have put your hand so close to his mouth if you didn’t want to get bitten,” Katara says.

“Well, maybe  _ he _ shouldn’t have  _ bitten me. _ ”

Aang watches Zuko as the two of them keep arguing. He’s not happy that they’re now apparently holding Zuko hostage but Sokka keeps saying that it’s a good idea, and Aang knows that he’s right even if he doesn’t like it.

Maybe it’s a chance to make friends.

If Zuko will let him use that chance.

“I’m going to talk to Zuko,” Aang says, getting up.

Katara blinks. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asks.

“Yes,” Aang says. 

Zuko isn’t just shouty. He’s quiet and sneaky and good with two swords at once. And maybe that makes him less scary, because now Aang knows that he’s obviously not  _ always _ angry.

Also, it isn’t very easy to be scared of someone when they’re staring at a flying lemur as if it’s the most suspicious thing they’ve ever seen in their life.

“Is your head okay?” Aang asks, sitting down cross-legged in front of Zuko, blocking his view of Momo. Momo screeches unhappily and scrambles up onto Aang’s shoulder, apparently having been invested in their staring contest.

Zuko glares at Aang instead of answering.

Aang bites at his lip. Zuko has been awake for hours now, but he seems woozy. He looks uncomfortable and sick, like he’s seconds from falling back asleep and can’t afford to fall back asleep at the same time.

“Do you have a headache?” Aang asks, giving Zuko a welcoming smile. “Katara could make you an ice pack. Or  _ I _ could, since I’ve started learning waterbending now. It can’t be too hard to make an ice pack. I’d just need to freeze some water and wrap it in a cloth I  _ think _ .”

Zuko has nothing to say to that. Aang droops.

“I’ve never seen Zuko so quiet,” Katara comments. When Aang twists round to look at her he sees that there’s a worried furrow to her brow. 

“Yeah,” Sokka says, releasing his arm for the first time since Zuko bit him. “I know he’s the enemy and all, but his head does  _ not _ look okay.”

Katara gets up, brushing dirt from her clothes. “I’ll take a look at it. You keep an eye on that, Sokka.”

Aang beams, inwardly cheering.

“Wh- hey!” Sokka splutters. “I am  _ not _ cooking!”

“Don’t you  _ want  _ breakfast?” Katara huffs, stomping over to Aang and Zuko. Her face softens into worry as she settles down next to Aang. “That really doesn’t look good.”

“Yeah,” Aang cringes. “He got hit with an arrow yesterday as well, so it’s probably way worse than-”

“An  _ arrow? _ ” Katara repeats, eyebrows rising.

“ _ Yesterday? _ ” Sokka calls from the fire.

“Uh... _ yeah _ ,” Aang says, smiling sheepishly. “Yesterday.”

“You saw Zuko  _ yesterday? _ ” Katara says. She looks from Aang to Zuko, face pinching. She turns back to Aang. “Did he try to capture you?”

“He saved me actually,” Aang says.

“I did  _ not! _ ” Zuko says, affronted.

Which is good, cause it means that Zuko is just choosing not to speak right now and is actually aware of his surroundings.

“Did too,” Aang grins.

“For  _ myself, _ ” Zuko hisses. 

He says nothing else on the matter after that, flinches away when Katara tries to get a better look at his forehead, does not tell them how many fingers she’s holding up when asked, and refuses to eat the jook they offer him once it’s made, citing poison as the reason.

“Uh, we’re  _ all _ eating this,” Sokka says, shoving a spoon of the jook into his own mouth. “It’s definitely not poisoned.” He swallows and shudders. “Oh,  _ vegetables _ ,” he laments.

“Vegetables are good,” Aang says, grinning.

“I miss meat,” Sokka says. “I miss having meat. We should buy meat the next time we go shopping.”

“Meat’s  _ expensive, _ ” Katara sighs.

“Maybe we can ask the Firelord to send us money as well as end the war,” Aang suggests. “And then Sokka can get all the meat he likes.”

He’s still not entirely comfortable with people eating meat around him, but he understands that the others are from a completely different culture. 

“Hey,” Sokka laughs. “That’s not such a bad idea. ‘Dear Firelord, send money so we can buy more meat or your son gets it. Love Sokka’.”

Aang doesn’t like the implication that they’re going to hurt Zuko. He frowns. Sokka wouldn’t really hurt Zuko, would he? Aang _ thinks  _ he was joking about that.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Zuko mutters.

“Oh?” Sokka says, smug. “Speaking now, are we?”

Zuko grits his teeth. His face scrunches up in anger and he turns away pointedly.

“You’re not really going to sign off with ‘love Sokka’, are you?” Katara asks. There’s a slight chuckle to her words.

Sokka beams. “Sure am! ‘Dear Firelord, love Sokka’!” he says, throwing his arms out dramatically.

Aang giggles. They continue talking about this for a while, Zuko huffing every other minute to show his displeasure. As they’re talking, Momo scuttles up and grabs a handful of jook from the bowl they’d set out for Zuko.

“That’s Zuko’s!” Aang admonishes.

Zuko looks mad, but he wasn’t going to eat it anyway so it’s not like he can say anything (and he’s back to giving them the silent treatment as well!). It must be hard being as angry as Zuko is all the time.

“You don’t even like jook,” Katara says.

Momo makes a clicking noise with his teeth and shoves the jook into his mouth. He stares intently at Zuko as he chews.

“I don’t think Momo likes Prince Bitey,” Sokka says. “Can’t really blame him.”

“It’s because of that red powder on his face,” Katara says. “Momo didn’t like the taste of it and he’s taken it personally.”

Zuko blinks. “Red powder?” he asks.

Aang coughs awkwardly. “Haha. Red powder. Good one, Katara.” He gives a strained chuckle and shoves a spoonful of jook into his mouth.

“What are you talking about?” Katara asks, confused. “There’s red powder all over Zuko’s face.”

“Yeah,” Sokka says. He squints over at Zuko. “What is that? Do you bathe in red powder in the Fire Nation or something? That’s so weird.”

“What?” Zuko shouts, predictably angry. “We  _ don’t _ bathe in red powder! What are you talking about, anyway?” He shifts as if to touch his face, but his hands are still tied behind his back and-

Oh. Wait a second.

Maybe that’s why he’s not eating.

“It’s on  _ your _ face,” Sokka says. “Shouldn’t you know about it?”

“There’s no powder on my face!” Zuko shouts.

“There totally is!” Sokka insists. Aang is about to steer the conversation away from the fireflake powder when Sokka puts his bowl down and stands up. “Here, let me-”

Sokka goes to touch Zuko’s face.

Zuko bites him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is my tumblr if anyone is interested!: https://achairwithapandaonit.tumblr.com/


	3. We Have Your Zuko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait for this! I'm very busy with uni rn so updates may be sparse

They have a problem.

The whole crew - eight people including Jee - is accounted for. Prince Iroh is accounted for. All three of their komodo rhinos are accounted for.

Prince Zuko is not.

“The kid didn’t really strike me as the kidnapping type,” Katsumi had said that morning at 2am, when the Prince had shut up on his own for the very first time in three years. 

Only, he’d apparently not done it on his own and had instead been kidnapped.

By the twelve-year-old Avatar.

It had been too good to be true.

“I’m sure the Avatar will return Prince Zuko to us soon enough,” General Iroh had said. He’d seemed very sure of himself.

But it’s been hours since then, and now they’re all watching from deck as the Avatar’s bison makes its way through the sky. Jee thinks he can hear the Prince’s screaming from here.

“Well,” General Iroh now says. “At least the Avatar won’t hurt Prince Zuko.”

Uyeda snorts. “Have you  _ met _ twelve-year-olds? They’re fucking monsters.”

“This twelve-year-old’s all sunshine and rainbows,” Katsumi smirks. “I’m sure he has his own method of torture called ‘friendship’.”

Tsuyoshi gasps. “But the Prince is allergic to that!” he exclaims.

Dear  _ Agni _ .

Jee clears his throat to get everyone’s attention, and the crew turn to him, not straightening up because they thrive on ignoring authority. They  _ were _ all picked for their dismal records in the Fire Nation military afterall. 

(Prince Zuko doesn’t know this. Or maybe he does, but it’s easier not to think about why he’s been stuck out at sea with an unruly crew for the past three years so he simply chooses not to know)

“This isn’t a situation to make light of,” Jee tells them. “Prince Zuko has been kidnapped. We must respond with urgency.”

The crew don’t quite look as chastined as Jee would hope for, but he can at least see the cogs turning behind all of their eyes.

“I guess that’s like...a  _ problem _ , huh,” one of them says.

“ _ Yes _ ,” Jee says, feeling greatly annoyed. “The Prince being kidnapped is, in fact, a problem.”

"I suppose it is a problem," Prince Iroh says, a hand cupped underneath his chin. "But on the other hand, it's also a wonderful opportunity."

What in the ever loving  _ fuck _ does that mean? 

Prince Iroh suddenly beams, smile stretched wide over his face. He looks upwards and waves. “Have a safe trip, Nephew!”

Jee thinks the Prince’s screaming gets louder. 

It might just be one of the low flying bird cats.

So, they have eight crewmen (Jee included), one Prince Iroh, three komodo rhinos, and no Prince Zuko. 

It’s just their luck that Zhao’s ship chooses this moment to pull up to theirs.

* * *

“So,” Zhao says, smirking. Jee hates him so much. He hates his stupid face and his dumb sideburns and he hates that he can’t just push him overboard without repercussions. “You’ve  _ lost _ Prince Zuko?”

They’d served together once, a number of years ago (before Jee had been shoved aboard an old, rusted boat and under the command of the angriest child he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting).  _ Knowing _ Zhao probably makes the urge to maim him worse.

“I just turned my back and he was gone,” Iroh says sheepishly. “You know how teenagers are. So much  _ energy _ .”

“Yes, I’ve noticed that he has a tendency to - ah,  _ overreact _ ...on occasion.”

It’s the truth.

That doesn’t mean Jee likes the way he says it.

“And you’re sure he’s not simply hiding away in his bedroom?” Zhao says, an eyebrow cocked. “With a concussion, perhaps?”

With a _ concussion? _ Just what has the Prince done this time.

Katsumi snorts from across deck. “He’s not there, Commander.”

“Admiral,” Zhao corrects, sneering.

The grin that Katsumi sends him is more teeth than anything. “Sure thing, _ Admiral _ .” she says in a horribly condescending voice.

She’s ‘forgotten’ his rank enough times in the past few years for everyone to know that it’s purposeful. 

“Well, as the crew says - Prince Zuko isn’t here,” Iroh cuts in, ignoring the furious look upon Zhao’s face. “I believe it’s time for you to return to your own-”

“I want a full search of the ship,” Zhao orders.

“There’s no need for that,” Jee says sharply. He can only think of the swords still lying on the Prince’s bedroom floor.

The Prince may  _ think _ he’s subtle, but the whole crew knows about what he gets up to at night by now. 

It’s easy enough to see - between the swords on the floor, Zhao’s boasting the night before about having caught the Avatar, the Avatar’s supposed presence on board the ship last night, and Zhao’s presence here now - what the Prince has gotten himself into.

Zhao’s eyebrow raises. “If there’s no need,” he says. “Then why are you objecting it so blatantly?”

Jee frowns. He steps back. “I only wish to not waste your time,” he says. The crew is on alert behind Zhao. Jee raises an eyebrow at Tsuyoshi, who looks around before pointing to himself questioningly. Jee gives a subtle nod. He only gets a confused look in response. 

He resists the urge to bury his head in his hands and scream.

“I assure you it wouldn’t be a waste at all,” Zhao crows. As he starts on some stupid speech about wanting to check on the Prince and make sure he’s okay - absolute bullshit - Jee leans around him and catches Tsuyoshi’s eye again, nodding his head towards the entrance to the inside of the ship. Tsuyoshi follows his gaze, looks back, and then mimes what Jee supposes is meant to be swords. Jee nods. Finally, Tsuyoshi begins edging his way around the crowd, the crew awkwardly averting their eyes.

Jee tunes back into Zhao’s speech to hear, “Of course, one can’t expect a respectful crew when their captain is so-”

“Feel free to search the ship.” Jee says, now ascertained that someone is going to do something about the incriminating swords in Prince Zuko’s bedroom.

Zhao’s lips curl into something dark and pleased. “Thank you for your cooperation,” he purrs.

* * *

The swords aren’t in the Prince’s bedroom when they get there and neither is Tsuyoshi. Jee had seen him down the corridor just a second ago, walking past nervously, swords badly concealed behind his back.

“As you can see,” Jee says, gesturing to the room. “It’s empty.”

Zhao doesn’t look placated.

He walks further into the room, fireflakes - and Jee had almost forgotten about those - crunching underfoot. He surveys the room suspiciously and then grabs at the bedsheets, pulling them from the bed.

The Prince doesn’t tumble out, but a mountain of fireflakes do.

Zhao growls, red powder now scattered down the front of his armour. He lets go of the bedsheets and whirls on Jee. “What is with all these Agni-damned fireflakes?!” he demands.

Jee raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

“I don’t pretend to understand the whims of Prince Zuko,” he says. “Perhaps the Prince got hungry.”

“The purpose of food is to eat it,” Zhao says.

Jee shrugs. “As I said - I don’t pretend to understand the whims of Prince Zuko.”

Zhao continues to complain about the Prince’s eating habits for a good five minutes, Jee tuning him out the whole way. It’s when he goes for the Prince’s chest that Jee stops him.

“I must advise you against going through the Prince’s personal things.”

“And why is that?” Zhao challenges.

He’s on a mission it seems - to find  _ something _ on Prince Zuko. Jee isn’t quite sure if he suspects the Prince of freeing the Avatar or if he just sees the Prince as a convenient outlet for his anger.

“May I remind you that he is a  _ Prince _ ?” Jee says dryly. “Not only is it deeply invasive to go through his things, it could also be considered treasonous.”

_ That _ drives Zhao away at least.

“Are you threatening me?” he asks, ice on his voice and steel in his eyes.

“That depends,” Jee says. “Are  _ you  _ threatening Prince Zuko?”

The enraged grin that Zhao gives screams yes - it screams yes, I am threatening the traumatised teenager in charge of you.

“Of course not,” Zhao hisses.

“Then it wouldn’t trouble you at all to get off of this ship, would it?”

No matter how much Prince Zuko screams and yells and pisses the crew off, they’ll always hate Zhao more than him. And it’s not like they can’t exactly understand just why he screams as much as he does.

He could still do with an attitude change, Jee thinks.

* * *

Sokka doesn’t trust Zuko.

This makes sense, because they’re enemies and all that. But the point is, Zuko is tied up, glaring, and Sokka really doesn’t trust the silent treatment he’s giving them all.

It doesn’t help that he bit him  _ twice. _

“Sooo,” Sokka pries. “How would you start a letter to the Firelord if you were writing one?”

Zuko says nothing. Sokka knows it’s just an act because he’d been screaming  _ a lot _ when they’d passed over his ship on Appa. Like,  _ a lot _ a lot. Like, so much that Sokka’s surprised he hasn’t damaged his voice.

“Probably something like, ‘dear dad’,” Aang says brightly. He turns to Zuko with a hopeful grin, as if Zuko’s ever going to affirm his suspicions with anything but a snarl. 

“Or, ‘dear father’?” Katara suggests.

They’ve settled down once again and set up camp. Appa has elected to take a nap, Momo serving as Zuko-watch-guard from atop his head (oh, how Sokka loves Momo’s newfound hatred of Zuko), and the rest of them have decided to draft up their hostage letter.

“Hmm, that’s not really gonna work for us, though,” Sokka says.

“Yeah!” Aang laughs. “The Firelord isn’t our father!”

Well done, Aang.

“Exactly,” Sokka says, nodding along. “We need something with more substance! More spice!”

“‘Dear, the literal worst person in the world’?” Katara says in a way that probably isn’t serious.

Sokka ignores that, because, “That’s good, we’re getting there!” and also because Zuko’s starting to look even angrier somehow.

“Oh! Oh!” Aang raises his hand. “Pick me! Pick me, Sokka!”

Sokka makes a show of surveying his collection of students (read: one student, one Katara, and one fuming hostage) before saying, “Aang? What’s your suggestion?”

Aang beams. “Hotman!” he says. “It’s a greeting in the Fire Nation.”

“No it’s not!” Zuko shouts, looking  _ very _ alarmed.

“You can’t fool me,” Aang boasts. “I know  _ all  _ about it. My friend Kuzon taught me.”

Zuko stares at him as if he’s an idiot.

“Are you sure he wasn’t just tricking you?” Katara says, leaning over to rest a hand on Aang’s shoulder.

“Who cares if Kuzon’s the biggest prankster in the history of pranksters!” Sokka cuts in. “That’s perfect!”

“Kuzon wasn’t joking,” Aang smiles. “But I’m glad you like my idea.”

Zuko groans. Sokka delights in it.

“‘Dear Firelord Hotman, Literal Worst Person In The World’,” Sokka says, scribbling his carefully crafted sentence down on parchment. “‘We have your son’-” Aang’s hand goes up. “Yes, Aang?”

“What if the Firelord has more than one son?” Aang asks worriedly.

Sokka turns to Zuko. “Does he?”

Zuko says nothing.

“We can just say we have Zuko,” Katara hurries to say.

Aang cringes. “But what if the Firelord has more than one Zuko?”

Sokka can see how that’d be a problem. “We can say that we have the angry one?” he ventures.

“I mean, he probably only has one Zuko,” Katara says, but even she seems sceptical.

As one, they turn to look at Zuko, who shrinks under their gazes, almost hissing like a feral moosecat. Imagine having more than one of those. 

Horrible.

Sokka’s going to stop thinking about it.

“Okay,” he says. “For my peace of mind, we’re going to stop thinking about multiple Zukos.”

“Awww,” Aang says, disappointed. “But-”

“No buts,” Katara says. “I  _ really _ don’t want to think about this anymore.”

They’re awkwardly silent for a couple more seconds. And then- not.

“But what would you even  _ do _ with that many Zukos?” Sokka bursts out.

“Right?!” Aang agrees fervently. “That was  _ so _ many Zukos! There probably aren’t that many Zukos, because if there were, there would be more of them chasing me.”

They collectively decide that there’s probably only one Zuko (it’s more like hope, really).

* * *

_ ‘Dear Firelord Hotman, Literal Worst Person In The World, we have your Zuko.  _

_ We won’t return him for anything less than the end of the war. Send money (being part of the Gaang - that’s gang and Aang - doesn’t really give you a steady income) or Zuko might starve.  _

_ Love (except not really because you’re an awful person) Sokka, Water Tribe warrior and best friend of the Avatar.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr: https://achairwithapandaonit.tumblr.com/
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! <3 (also zuko is his crew's idiot teenager who they both despise and grudgingly parent. you can't change my mind. they r like fuck zuko,, but if anyone else says it they're ready to throw hands)

**Author's Note:**

> here is my tumblr if anyone wants to talk: https://achairwithapandaonit.tumblr.com/  
> also i hope i've gotten everyone in character! i've never written avatar fic before. aang is definitely very fun to write


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